I am a ‘newbie’, so I hope my question doesn’t sound dumb. What is the difference between the 'outer and inner control points?? When and for what reason would I know which to use When??
Please, post a new topic with a relevant subject to the correct board for your operating system and version of Audacity (for example, Audacity 1.2.X for Windows). This is nothing to do with Forum connectivity issues. I’ve moved this to the “Audio Processing” board for want of anything better. 
The best documentation we have for Envelope Tool is in the Manual for Audacity 1.3.12 Beta - it’s mostly relevant even if you have Audacity 1.2.5/6. See:
http://manual.audacityteam.org/index.php?title=Envelope_Tool
The point of either of the inner control points is that they let you amplify beyond the original volume envelope of the track, making it louder than it was before. So the outer and inner control points both let you reduce the amplification below the original level, but only the inner points let you increase it.
Gale